Tożsamość kulturowo-językowa staroobrzędowców na tle innych grup mniejszościowych w Polsce. Możliwe płaszczyzny przemilczeń

Abstract

The Polish Old Believers are here considered as a ‘mute group’. There are numerous examples of fields which are passing over in silence in the Old Believers’ contacts with their surroundings. The reasons of most ‘mute fields’ are rooted in history of the community of our interest: they were living in isolation for ages, preserving their religion, culture and language from outer influence. While the Old Believers’ lingua-cultural identity differs in many points from their Polish surroundings, the contradictions are usually not discussed in intercultural contacts. Some ‘mute fields’ are common also for other minority groups but unlike e.g. Germans, Ukrainians or Czechs, the Old Believers have no material nor symbolic support from their motherland.